Bing drags feet on fixing Detroit

[begingri]

Detroit mayor needs to take a cue from governor, GM
By: Daniel Howes

Two years ago, amid General Motors Corp.'s downward spiral into bankruptcy, a terrifying proposition roiled behind the scenes at Detroit's annual power confab on Mackinac Island:

Could the city, Wayne County and just about anyone else with the right connections persuade the stumbling automaker to keep its headquarters in Detroit? Because then-CEO Fritz Henderson was exploring whether to bolt the city for Warren in a bid to consolidate operations and save money.

The threat was deadly serious. But it didn't happen, thanks to persistent lobbying by Mayor Dave Bing and others, pushback from Detroiters in key positions in the Obama administration and intervention by the president himself, who spoke directly with the mayor several times during those grim days.

"It's over for Detroit if you do this," Gene Sperling, an Ann Arbor native and economic adviser to the president, yelled in a meeting recounted by auto task force chief Steven Rattner in his book, "Overhaul." "Don't do this to Dave Bing. He's a good man trying to do a good thing."

The mayor is still a good man trying to do a good thing. But that may be part of an increasingly apparent problem, especially when compared to the promising rebound of GM and the whirlwind accomplishments of Gov. Rick Snyder and the GOP-controlled Legislature.

Continued at: http://detnews.com/article/20110527/...#ixzz1NrhUH1Qv

[Fnemecek]

The surprising thing here is that the MSM is actually willing to say something unpleasant about Mayor Bing. Granted, it was couched in at least mildly diplomatic terms.

Still, the sudden willingness of the News and Freep to write editorials that show at least a tiny portion of Mayor Bing's failures is an important shift.

[lilpup]

Detroit ain't gonna turn around in two years. The state will be lucky if it really turns in ten or twenty.

Conservative business idiots like Howes don't give a rat's ass about anything except bottom line issues.

I'm really looking forward to Bob Lutz's book about how these clowns damage organizations.

[Jimaz]

Detroit ain't gonna turn around in two years. The state will be lucky if it really turns in ten or twenty.

Conservative business idiots like Howes don't give a rat's ass about anything except bottom line issues.

I'm really looking forward to Bob Lutz's book about how these clowns damage organizations.

I assume that would be Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business.

[iheartthed]

Detroit ain't gonna turn around in two years. The state will be lucky if it really turns in ten or twenty.

Conservative business idiots like Howes don't give a rat's ass about anything except bottom line issues.

I agree about Howes, but he also has a point in that it took Snyder less than 6 months for him to come in and run through his tax plan. Yet, we're at two years and counting just waiting for the "shrinking the city" plan. Spectating from the sidelines, it's hard not to get the sense that the mayor's office has just been on autopilot for the past two years. It feels like hardly anything has been accomplished.

[lilpup]

Snyder has a lot more leeway to work with than Bing does.

[Carey]

I didn't vote for Snyder but I will admit he is a businessman-turned-politician with some new ideas and a bold approach to his job. Bing, on the other hand, is a businessman-turned-politician with no new ideas and a lack of boldness and vitlaity that borders on comatose. The whole "shrinking the city" theory wasn't his idea; it came from academics, journalists and Youngstown, Ohio. I don't think he had even heard of the shrinking concept until a reporter asked him about it at one of the candidate debates.

He doesn't like the big-city mayor thing of marching in parades and kissing babies. He doesn't think well on his feet and seems tenative when fielding questions at press conferences, which raises questions about his leadership ability. He seems to have lost control of his administration, given the turnover at the highest ranks. His police chief seems in over his head. On the plus side, I think he is honest and was motivated to run for mayor by a sincere belief that he could help the city, but the city has overwhlemed him.

[iheartthed]

Snyder has a lot more leeway to work with than Bing does.

Bing had as much of a mandate, if not more, than did Snyder. The electorate essentially sweeped the house clean.

[Bham1982]

Snyder has a ton more opportunity for change than Bing.

The State is considerably healthier than the City, and never really had serious budget issues, thanks to heavy staff and benefits cuts under Granholm.

State govt. is already relatively "lean and mean". City govt.; not so much, or at least not relative to available resources.

[iheartthed]

Snyder has a ton more opportunity for change than Bing.

The State is considerably healthier than the City, and never really had serious budget issues, thanks to heavy staff and benefits cuts under Granholm.

State govt. is already relatively "lean and mean". City govt.; not so much, or at least not relative to available resources.

Generally, when things are running fine there are less opportunities for change, not more.

[lilpup]

It's not about 'fine' it's about cushion, particularly financial cushion, available to work with.

[iheartthed]

It's not about 'fine' it's about cushion, particularly financial cushion, available to work with.

Okay... So what is he going to do to solve that? What was he elected to do? How long do we have to wait for him to do something? We're nearly half way through his full term and we've got virtually nothing from him other than a plan to tear down some empty houses. What is his vision for Detroit in 5, 10, 20 years? Where does he plan to focus services in his "shrinking city"? When he first came into office he trumpeted this idea that the city needed to physically shrink and that would mean shutting off sections of the city. Tell me, after the mayor of a city makes a statement like this, how many people would be rushing to buy real estate in said city until the mayor publicly identifies which sections would be targeted for shut down? There's this thing called confidence, and in some form or another it underwrites every economic system on the face of the Earth. People have to be confident that they are buying into something that will exist in 5, 10, 20 years. He has left the city in limbo for nearly two years and has seemingly not accomplished hardly anything, least of which articulating a freaking plan. How much does a plan cost? Hell, buy a $3 box of crayons and draw it on a fucking napkin. Just release a plan!

[lilpup]

Gotta walk before you can run. Books get cleaned up, reports get submitted on time, trash gets taken out. Those are the things that really matter. As Kwame so clearly proved public posturing alone doesn't get stuff done.

[bartock]

Gotta walk before you can run. Books get cleaned up, reports get submitted on time, trash gets taken out. Those are the things that really matter. As Kwame so clearly proved public posturing alone doesn't get stuff done.

Exactly. It is easy to forget that virtually everything Kwame did for 8 years was a lie or something misleading, or just not disclosed, whether it be the home demolitions [[which have been very noticeable since Bing took office), the late/non-existent reports to the state, the budgets, the estimated deficits, the federal stuff with police and water. Bing HAS identified neighborhoods that he wants to stabilize, via the police residency incentives.

[Fnemecek]

Gotta walk before you can run. Books get cleaned up, reports get submitted on time, trash gets taken out. Those are the things that really matter. As Kwame so clearly proved public posturing alone doesn't get stuff done.

Mayor Bing is a long ways from even walking. His only real positive that he has accomplished to date was getting our annual audit done on time, which while important is a long way from being the kind of "change with a sense of urgency" that he promised when campaigning for office.

[professorscott]

I think Bing has the disease some refer to as "paralysis of analysis". In other words, while the state's house is on fire, Rick Snyder is grabbing a hose and spraying water on it [[though we can argue all day about whether it's the correct type of hose and water).

Meanwhile, as Detroit's house is also on fire, Dave Bing is carefully looking through catalogs of hoses and trying to decide precisely which hose to apply, where, and with how much water. Meanwhile the house is on fire.

Here's how you can tell the Mayor has this weakness: the City Council is outpacing him. I find that extremely remarkable, and I am surprised how few people have remarked about it.

[Fnemecek]

Okay... So what is he going to do to solve that? What was he elected to do? How long do we have to wait for him to do something? We're nearly half way through his full term and we've got virtually nothing from him other than a plan to tear down some empty houses. What is his vision for Detroit in 5, 10, 20 years? Where does he plan to focus services in his "shrinking city"? When he first came into office he trumpeted this idea that the city needed to physically shrink and that would mean shutting off sections of the city. Tell me, after the mayor of a city makes a statement like this, how many people would be rushing to buy real estate in said city until the mayor publicly identifies which sections would be targeted for shut down? There's this thing called confidence, and in some form or another it underwrites every economic system on the face of the Earth. People have to be confident that they are buying into something that will exist in 5, 10, 20 years. He has left the city in limbo for nearly two years and has seemingly not accomplished hardly anything, least of which articulating a freaking plan. How much does a plan cost? Hell, buy a $3 box of crayons and draw it on a fucking napkin. Just release a plan!

I cannot emphasize enough how important that one sentence above is. My neighborhood was steadily recovering from the mortgage crisis, until Mayor Bing announced this "shrinking cities" crap. Since then, everything has ground to an abrupt halt since no one knows if we'll be "shut down."

[BrushStart]

Okay... So what is he going to do to solve that? What was he elected to do? How long do we have to wait for him to do something? We're nearly half way through his full term and we've got virtually nothing from him other than a plan to tear down some empty houses. What is his vision for Detroit in 5, 10, 20 years? Where does he plan to focus services in his "shrinking city"? When he first came into office he trumpeted this idea that the city needed to physically shrink and that would mean shutting off sections of the city. Tell me, after the mayor of a city makes a statement like this, how many people would be rushing to buy real estate in said city until the mayor publicly identifies which sections would be targeted for shut down? There's this thing called confidence, and in some form or another it underwrites every economic system on the face of the Earth. People have to be confident that they are buying into something that will exist in 5, 10, 20 years. He has left the city in limbo for nearly two years and has seemingly not accomplished hardly anything, least of which articulating a freaking plan. How much does a plan cost? Hell, buy a $3 box of crayons and draw it on a fucking napkin. Just release a plan!

The plans for which neighborhoods will be salvaged and those that will be slashed must remain completely secret. Otherwise there is a huge opportunity for corruption to enter the process and/or unfettered and rampant land speculation that would destroy the objective. If you tipped people off as to what neighborhoods were being considered, there would bribes flying all over the place as well as investors like that guy from Grosse Pointe buying up large swaths of real estate just to hold it ransom. This is one instance where we must pray that the mayor and his inner circle are beyond reproach. There will also be an expected great deal of litigation, so Bing has to have all his "ducks in a row" before diving in head first.

I'm not saying Bing is delaying for the reasons I mentioned, but common sense dictates that a plan such as remapping the city cannot happen unless it is done in absolute secrecy. Perhaps, one neighborhood at a time will have to be shut down. People will have to be relocated to other more viable areas at random. It could take years to do this in a way that isn't an absolute debacle.

[iheartthed]

Here's how you can tell the Mayor has this weakness: the City Council is outpacing him. I find that extremely remarkable, and I am surprised how few people have remarked about it.

Yeah, that the City Council actually put out a budget that cut deeper than the mayor says a lot. Generally speaking, when you have both a Democratic legislative body and Democratic chief executive, the legislative body acts as the balance against heavy cuts by the executive. [[Vice versa for Republicans.) That the Council went out ahead of the mayor on the budget issue says some not so good things about the mayor's office, IMO.

[Fnemecek]

The plans for which neighborhoods will be salvaged and those that will be slashed must remain completely secret. Otherwise there is a huge opportunity for corruption to enter the process and/or unfettered and rampant land speculation that would destroy the objective. If you tipped people off as to what neighborhoods were being considered, there would bribes flying all over the place as well as investors like that guy from Grosse Pointe buying up large swaths of real estate just to hold it ransom.

The thing is, land is so cheap in Detroit that keeping his intentions a secret doesn't really deter real estate speculators. They can buy 40-50 homes in Detroit for about what they would pay for 1 home in the suburbs. They don't put anything into their purchase nor do they usually bother to pay the property taxes.

They simply spread their bets around and wait a couple of years to see which one of them is going pay off. Meanwhile, those of us who are actual residents and business owners have to deal with these vacant/blighted properties while the Mayor continues to dawdle.

[lilpup]

Anybody can go in and slash and burn for short term bottom line results, but if the roots are cut doing it there's no possibility of growth in the future.

Bing is right about not slashing the cultural institution funding but Council still at times shows traces of hostility toward those things that attract suburbanite dollars downtown.

[Hypestyles]

...I fear that as long as big segments of urban detroit residents continue fetishize the tenure of Coleman Young, it's curtains for anybody new to try anything new for redevelopment.. being expected by some to toe a line of being perfectly Afrocentric and radical in all endeavors while trying to create an environment that works for 'everyone'..
CY never had to deal with the long-term economic devastation the city now faces.. some folks are convinced that if he were still alive he'd have this turned around "in a second"..

[BrushStart]

The thing is, land is so cheap in Detroit that keeping his intentions a secret doesn't really deter real estate speculators. They can buy 40-50 homes in Detroit for about what they would pay for 1 home in the suburbs. They don't put anything into their purchase nor do they usually bother to pay the property taxes.

They simply spread their bets around and wait a couple of years to see which one of them is going pay off. Meanwhile, those of us who are actual residents and business owners have to deal with these vacant/blighted properties while the Mayor continues to dawdle.

The City has first crack at any properties that go up for auction. The city can also foreclose on any property that owes back taxes, right now, it takes 3 consecutive years of non-payment. The city could speed that process up. Start the tax foreclosures shortly after the taxes go unpaid. Speculators won't pay because right now most of them don't and wouldn't because they can't actually afford the true cost of the property they own. The city should also step up code enforcement on all commercial properties. I say call the program, "Fix it or Forfeit." If you don't fix your property within 90 days of being cited, you forfeit it back to the city. Enforcement of taxes and code ordinances that have been on the books for years is totally fair. Property owners have been on notice of them for years, even if they've been skating by since the city hasn't always enforced them vigorously.

[SWMAP]

The city should step up code enforcement on rental properties. Single family home rentals [[many owned by some hard-to-trace corporation) are now dominant in my neighborhood and they are contributing to blight. As far as I know, the city has no program to address and resolve single-family rentals. This is getting to be a big problem. The City doesn't even have a way to track the ownership down and contact them. Someone in Bing's administration has to study and solve this or our housing stock will be destroyed. And people like me will move away to somewhere where people own their property and have some pride.

[Carey]

...I fear that as long as big segments of urban detroit residents continue fetishize the tenure of Coleman Young, it's curtains for anybody new to try anything new for redevelopment.. being expected by some to toe a line of being perfectly Afrocentric and radical in all endeavors while trying to create an environment that works for 'everyone'..
CY never had to deal with the long-term economic devastation the city now faces.. some folks are convinced that if he were still alive he'd have this turned around "in a second"..

Hyper: CY never had to deal with long-term economic decline? C'mon. He took over in 1974, easily 20 years after the city's population and industry had started to flee. The abandonment was obviously less extensive in 1974 than today, but it was still prevalent in many neighborhoods. In addition, there had been a devastating riot seven years before Young took office. The whole premise of the Poletown plant, the way they sold the rationale to take private land to the Supreme Court, was that it was economic development for a long-depressed area. Coleman Young definitely had to deal with long-term economic decline, and so did Roman Gribbs and Jerry Cavanagh, the two mayors who preceeded him.